IzzyEng4

CT firefighters received sad news today from the Norwich Fire Department IAFF Local 892. Ben DeMond was tragically killed in a multi-car accident in I-395 in Montville yesterday. His vehicle was struck by a drunk driver while traveling south on the interstate near CSP Troop E's barracks. His two children were in the car with him and received non-life threatening injuries. Arrangements will be posted when available. http://www.norwichbulletin.com/newsnow/x75611569/Norwich-firefighter-killed-in-Friday-car-accident#axzz1okjJuz4N http://www.local892.org/

Actually, not many fire departments that have quints call them that. Usually that term was utilized under the "Quint Concept" where departments replaced the engine and ladder truck at a station with a quint and usually another smaller piece, or if the unit was station alone by itself. A quint in the true scene of the term means in this day and age an apparatus with a viable aerial ladder 75 to 100+ feet in length, 1000 or more gpm pump (may be as low as 750 gpm but I'm going with ISO Class A pumpers), minimum of 250 gallons of water in the tank and a minimum of 85 feet of ground ladders. A majority of what we call "quint" apparatus out there does not meet this specification. So that is the first place you need to look. A typical 75' Seagrave mean stick lacks 85 feet of ground ladders on it, any Telesquirt pumper is not a quint, ect. So take a look at all the "quints" out there and see which fit the actual specifications for a quint. You will be surprised how many "quints" that are out their are really not! We tend to utilize the term so we know what we got coming if it is designated that way.

Cisterns are a very common thing in the fire service and have been utilized since the 1700s. San Fran saw the need obviously to bring back an old technology that still works today. In a neighboring town from mine, the factory area has a canal and "race-tails" throught the area. They had a bug fire a few years back and there wasn't a lot of usable hydrants. Ten the old timers came out, looked for the manhole covers for the canal, opened them up and the pumpers began to draft out of them. We had more than enought water supplied in the canal by the river to meet our needs.

Bring some hose so you can give it to them when they drive by since they need it!

Rest in Peace Andy.

I really should learn to turn off the auto-correct when I'm replying from my iPhone!!!

The ad was removed from ebay. Was it sold or was the ad pulled?

Great to see a pierce of history back in your hands!!!! Take good care of her!

Congrats to all!

SteveOFD is right, too many people out there are pushing themselves as "radio techs" and giving out false information. Make sure yo speak with a reputable radio company if you need to become compliant.

Or reach that pesky peak in the roof when you need to paint your house again!

Like the others said it should be okay if the strap material is not breaking down. It should be the dye changing color. But I would get everything checked out anyway to be safe.

I tend to agree but at the same time respectfully disagree. We need new innovations in the fire service to expand our tool box. Where I agree with you is yes the basic still work (where I think you were going with your comment) technology has helped improved our work. For example, TICs were introduced as a great way for assisting in searching for down victims. But the TIC became utilized for so much more. There have been countless time where we as firefighters have used it to find where fire is behind wall. How about finding those pesky blown florescent light ballast smell of smoke calls?? Unfortunately since the advent of our encapsulating PPE where we loose our sense of touch, smell and taste, sometimes were over extend ourselves. At the same time we can't overload our sight and hearing either. Remember with technology, just as in the past as in the future, some technology will be great for the fire service while others will majorly fail. BTW roof, there are already being robots built for firefighting purposes and have been under development for the past 10 years.

Remember this: "AN ENEMY OF AN ENEMY IS A FRIEND". Now what happens IF Iran and some other country go at it and that other country threatens us at the same time?? Scary though huh??? We allied ourselves with enemies before, it can happen. (I hope to God it doesn't though!)

Do you have the link to the original article?

Remember Iran is ancient Persia, and the Arabs are ancestoral enemies of Persia. Persia was a pain in the rear 3000+ years ago and they still are. Everyone in the area has knocked them down time and time again thoughout history. They are trying to become a world power once again like they once were. Just look how Persia was back then and compare it to modern day Iran, not much difference in the way the leadership and oppression is utilized. Quite honestly, its about time we worry about ourselves and fix our own problems on the home front first. If Isreal or any of the other countries in the region what to go ahead and take care of business, fine so be it. We don't need to be in another unpopular war and getting everyone in the world to hate us like they already do. We have to stop being the policeman all the time. They do something to our people anywhere in the world, then I'm all for blowing them off the face of the map. Until then, they are just a bunch of blowhards that utilize thier interpretation of religion to convince the uneducated in that country and region for thier own means. Give it time, Iran wil be causing China and Russia problems soon enough. The writing is on the wall, just no one realizes it yet.

Alex, if you go to John Galla's Firenews site, on th department pages they list wich departments are volunteer, career, on-call, ect. Might give u a head start there in looking for their websites. Metro Boston area is primarily career staffed, not sure how many in Plymouth or Worcester counties are combo or volunteer.

BULL_____!!!!!!!!!! <Please fill in the blank at your own convenience>

The test given for Boston is the MA HRD statewide testing for firefighters. There are many departments throughout MA that utilize this test. Cogs is right, Boston and a host of other MA departments have a hiring age limit of 32. But there is also a lot of departments that do not have this limit as well. When you take the test, you have the choice of four departments you would like to be considered for. If you have lived in a city for a year, you can claim residency for that department and then chose three additional departments. You do have to check for any residency requirements for those departments as well, some want you to live in the town prior or shortly after appointment where others have a certain mile radius to live in. For Boston you do not have to live in the city (though its a great city to live in anyway) but they give residents extra weight for the job. Now here is a kicker, many departments in MA also have "Call" firefighters and hire them off this list too. A "Call" firefighter is what it sounds like, you are not in the firehouse and you are paid on call (another words your a part-time or "utility-man"). Make sure the department you are applying for is hiring full-time "permanent" firefighters before you apply. Other tips: --Even if you don't have reciprocity with your certs (fire and EMS) submit them anyway. It shows your level of training. --Do your home work before you even take the test. Look at the departments that are on the HRD list. Don't go in there thinking "Hey I want to apply for Springfield" and when you go to make your picks Springfield is not listed (example only). There are many departments that do their own testing instead of going through the Commonwealth system. --MASSACHUSETTS IS NOT A LICENSED CPAT STATE!!!!!! They do their own agility test. --Everyone tries to get on Boston. Trust me and the other buffs here, Eastern Mass towns get a lot of fire, not only Boston. Look at the METRO-FIRE mutual aid towns, The Cape, Plymouth County, ect for who has open positions. Also remember, because the testing is through HRD, sometimes you can unilaterally "transfer" from one department to another. I do not know if this practice is still in effect or not. --TRY TRY AGAIN. When I took the test many years ago, I was listed in the 2000s. When I tested again, I ended up in the 700 numbers, then the next time in the 400. --REMEMBER Laid off firefighters in MA have more priority than you when trying to get onto a department (and rightly so). Don't let this discourage you. Good luck to those who take the test. When you go, go up a day or two before and take in the town. Usually the test is held in Boston and you can get a decent hotel room throughout the city. There are many great places in the Metro Boston area. Also a good buff hint for you all, get the book "Boston's Fire Trail". It outlines all the great fires in the city and literally follows the famed "Freedom Trail".

I'll take an old Maxim over a new KME anyday!

210's right, if you looked above at my post (#22 to be exact) I said where this rig now resides.

"The better to watch you my pretty!!!"

All though the actions of the dispatcher are most certainly questionable as to his/her line of questioning, the social work seems to have lost her "professionalism" when giving the information to the dispatcher from the beginning. Now I'm not placing blame on the social worker at all for the outcome of this tragic event, but just maybe it may have been place on a higher priority, maybe not because of the dispatcher's line of questioning. First off she did not identify herself as to who she was at the start of the call, which she should have and by the sound of the dialog read, she seemed to be in a panic. She is an agent of the DSHS and should have acted accordingly while on the phone. Her first line may have set the tone for the dispatcher after he answered and she said "Hey, I'm on a supervised visit.....and something weird really happened....." As a former dispatcher, this would unfortunately put into my mind "okay BS call". Granted I shouldn't be complacent. Also too much information was asked by the dispatcher (and given obviously by the social worker). She didn't know the address of where she was at first as well and had to look at where she was. Also she was more involved with telling the dispatcher about Powell personally and why he was on a "short leash" rather than getting to the problem that was occurring at the time. ECT, ECT, ECT. I can go on back and forth but you can blame the dispatcher all you want, however when the investigation goes through, the social worker unfortunately gonna get raked over the coals as well. The system failed on all ends, not just one.

I beleive that explanation is for 800 trunked systems that are cross patched to a single transmit (broadcast) frequency. The pagers are not made to follow a trunking system. As for digital transmissions I beleive they do not make them as well. However I maybe wrong, it's est to contact the manufacturer and ask them instead of going through a vendor just to be sure.

The ALF was not destroyed, its up at Andy's place. The E-One was donated out of VA and they had anothe rig that was purcahsed for them. Those two were sold. This is covered in the other thread covering this.